Mini-crash was the nickname commonly used for the October 27, 1997, global stock-market collapse linked to Asian financial turmoil.
On that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 554.26 points, or 7.18%. The drop triggered the first use of the New York Stock Exchange’s newly established circuit breakers, which halted trading temporarily when the decline reached the relevant threshold.
The sell-off occurred during the Asian financial crisis, which had begun earlier in 1997 with pressure on Thailand’s baht and spread across several economies. Investors feared currency devaluations, weak banks and the possibility that financial problems would spread internationally.
The 1997 episode is distinct from the 1998 Russian financial crisis and from the 1987 Black Monday crash. It did not produce a decline as large as 1987 in percentage terms, but it demonstrated how quickly international capital flows and investor sentiment could transmit a shock across markets.